Dev. Academy recap: Caps start strong

The second weekend of the Development Academy season is in the books with a smattering of games taking place across the country.

Below is a recap from a few of the noteworthy fixtures from this weekend’s slate of games in the Academy.

West

Dallas Texans Abdel Sanogo

The Vancouver Whitecaps started the season 6-0-0 between their two teams in the Academy. The U16 squad cruised to three wins against San Juan Soccer Club, Cal Odyssey and the San Jose Earthquakes. The Caps U16 finished the weekend with 12 goals scored and 0 conceded from those three games. Aymar Sigue led the charge on offense with five goals. The U18 squad also went 3-0-0 over the weekend with a 3-1 win over San Juan Soccer Club on Thursday, and then a 3-0 win over Cal Odyssey on Saturday. Caps finished the weekend with a 2-1 win over the San Jose Earthquakes on Sunday.

The Seattle Sounders U18 opened the season with a 1-0-1 record after a 2-1 win over the Santa Cruz Breakers on Saturday followed by a 3-3 draw with the De Anza Force on Sunday. Sounders forward Isidro Prado-Huerta had three goals in the two games to lead the MLS Academy. The Sounders U16s started the season with a perfect 2-0 mark. Victor Mansaray and Harrison Kurtz both had two goals over the weekend for the Sounders younger side.

In Southern California, it was only the U14 age group in action over the weekend as the U16 and U18 sides still wait for the first games. The LA Galaxy U14 improved to 2-0 on the year with a 2-0 win over Santa Barbara Soccer Club on Saturday. Jesus Nunez scored twice and Noa Harrison added the game-winner late for the Galaxy. Nunez and Harrison both have three goals this season. Carson Vom Steeg and Owen Bates scored for Santa Barbara, which dropped to 0-2 on the season.

The San Diego Surf U14s also moved to 2-0 win a 4-1 win over the Central California Aztecs on Saturday. Forward Vardhin Manoj scored twice for the Surf to push his season tally to four goals. Mckay Eves and Juan Gutierrez also found the back of the net for the San Diego club.

FC Golden State also moved to 2-0 on the year following a 5-1 win over Arsenal FC. Golden State used five different goal-scorers to keep the perfect record with Marty Raygoza, Jesus Hernandez, Roberto Garcia-Vargas, Tobias Garcia-Mendez, and Kevin Aguilar-Cervantes all tallying goals.

Central

The Dallas Texans and Lonestar SC Academy U16s both opened the season with 3-0 wins on Saturday. The Texans defeated the San Antonio Scorpions Youth Academy behind a pair of goals from Abdel Sanogo. Jeffrey Palomarez scored the other goal off the bench.

Orrin Gaines, Nick Marcin, and Josh Noth scored for Lonestar SC Academy in its 3-0 win over the Texas Rush to open the season. The Houston Dynamo U16s also started the season with a win after defeating Solar Chelsea SC 3-1. Andrew Giraldo, Roberto Marquez, and Deniz Sipahi scored for the winning side.

In the U18 age group, the Dallas Texans were the only side to start the season on a perfect note with a victory over the San Antonio Scorpions. Ivan Alvarado scrored the lone goal early in the first half to secure the three points for the Texans.

The big battle of the weekend in the older age group came in Houston where the Dynamo scored twice in the opening 12 minutes before Solar answered back with two goals in 13 minutes and the teams settled on a 2-2 draw. Elochukwu Ozumba scored the opener with Mac Reyes doubling the lead for Dynamo. North Carolina(m) commit Alan Winn cut the lead in half before Brock Dudley scored the game-tying goal.

Marquette commit Andrija Novakovich notched a hat trick on Saturday and Chicago Magic PSG U18 cruised to a 3-0 win over St. Louis Scott Gallagher Metro. Novakovich leads the team in goals scored with four already on the season. The Chicago Fire, Shattuck-Saint Mary’s Soccer Academy, and the Minnesota Thunder all improved to 2-0 on the season in the U18 age group in the Mid-America Division as well.

The Fire defeated St. Louis Scott Gallagher Missouri 3-2 thanks to an own goal and tallies from Alex Underwood and Qudus Lawal. Tommy Barlow and Devin Boyce scored for the losing side.

Ricardo Lopez-Espin scored game-winning goals in both of SSM U18’s contest this weekend. The Creighton commit scored with 13 minutes left on Saturday to push SSM to a 2-1 win over Internationals. He followed that up with a first half tally in a 1-0 win over Crew Soccer Academy on Sunday.

The Minnesota Thunder U16s started the season with a pair of wins. U.S. U17 Men’s National Team midfielder Mukwelle Akale notched three goals in the wins over Crew Soccer Academy and Internationals.

St. Louis Scott Gallagher Missouri also picked up a win over the weekend to go to 2-0 in the Mid-America U16 division. Scott Gallagher topped Chicago Fire on Sunday behind a goal from Kaden Keller, who also helped the defense shut out the dynamic Fire attack.

East

Isaiah Young continued his hot start to the season with his fourth goal of the year in a 2-0 win for the Philadelphia Union U16s against Match Fit Academy on Saturday. Kevin Carvalho scored the other goal for Union, which is 3-0-0 on the year. The Union U18s also improved to 3-0-0 over the weekend with a 1-0 win over Match Fit Academy.

PDA also improved to 3-0-0 on the season in both the U16 and U18 age groups after wins over NJSA on Sunday. Jalil Blalock and Cameron Harr scored for the PDA U16s in a 2-1 win over NJSA. Joshua Goldstern had the lone goal for the losing side. Jake Areman notched the game-winner in the U18 age group in a 1-0 victory.

Kendall SC opened the season with two road wins in the U16 age group. The Florida club beat Charlotte Soccer Academy and Carolina Rapids over the weekend. Sebastian Herran and Andy Alvarez led the way with two goals each.

The Florida club also had a stellar weekend at the U14 level with wins over Jacksonville FC and IMG Academy. Truman Gelnovatch, Jorge Mahmoud, and Jean-Paul Rafols combined to score the six goals for Kendall SC U14 over the weekend.

The Carolina Rapids U18s improved to 3-0 on the season with wins over Weston FC and Kendall SC. David Lozano continued his hot start to the season with three goals over the weekend to push his season tally to four in three games.